


Fact or Fiction

by Mansaeboysbe



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: College AU, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 06:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16213559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mansaeboysbe/pseuds/Mansaeboysbe
Summary: What started as a late night cereal run turns into awkward glances and one annoying wingman/best friend





	Fact or Fiction

**Author's Note:**

> -Admin Mari

She hoped with every fiber of her being that she wasn’t being obvious. Like, maybe the way she had been standing in aisle 3, the cereal aisle with boxes too bright on the eyes under the fluorescent lights, for a total of five minutes “looking for a particular brand” seemed natural. Like she hadn’t been sneaking glances at the boy seated at an empty checkout counter, nose buried in some science fiction novel she had seen lining the front of the bookshop around the corner.

Her foot tapped nervously against the tiled floor and she had to remind herself to stop biting her nails when she felt a piece of her already chipped polish come off. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear before shifting the basket on her left arm to her right and leaning back on her heels. Averting her gaze back to the products in front of her, the chipper mascot on the box was almost insulting with its stupid positive slogans. She had half a mind to punch Tony the Tiger in the face but settled on giving him a pointed glare.

It was the stupid cereal that had brought her into this situation, after all. Two weeks ago (Y/n) had run out of her preferred “running late to her 9 am” breakfast food and had made a stop at the closest grocery store at the next convenient time. That time was about half past midnight but to her credit, she hadn’t actually remembered until she was craving it and trying to finish an essay due the next day.

That night was the first time she had seen the employee she was currently spying on, a guy around her age with black hair that brushed his eyebrows and a tired expression adorned by pretty much all the students on her college campus. At first, she hadn’t thought much of him, but then he had smiled as she approached and her stupid heart fluttered. And now she was back again, for the third time this week, buying things she didn’t need at a time when she could be sleeping, just for the chance to see him smile again.

She cast another glance his way and couldn’t help but watch as he checked out another customer. He made small talk with the man and smiled at something the guy said. She couldn’t help but smile a little herself, and she could already feel herself blushing.

“Uh, miss, do you need help finding something?”

(Y/n) just about jumped out of her skin, turning sharply to meet the lanky, sandy-haired employee who was looking at her with an expression of equal parts confusion and concern.

“Ah, um, n-no. Sorry,” she stuttered out before rushing past him into another aisle. Making her way to the back of the store, she muttered to herself about looking like an idiot and how she should just leave already.

As she was about to start putting away the random items she had grabbed, her phone chimed. She shifted the basket again to look at the message and scowled:

_“Hey, while you’re out can you get some snacks?”_

Part of her really wanted to just say that she was already almost back, and another part wanted to leave and simply go to a different store. The logical part was telling her to suck it up and get the food already.

So, reluctantly, she went around the store for maybe the fourth time that night and collected sweets and chips and the obligatory nutritional food so she didn’t look completely unhealthy.

When she had all that she was willing to pay for, she slowly made her way up to the front. There was the other employee so maybe she could get him to check her out instead? No, she was already too anxious about their first encounter and really didn’t feel like talking to him again.

She peeked around a display of soda cases to the empty front. The cute guy had returned his attention back to the book, absentmindedly tapping along with the pop song that was playing at a low volume from the speakers overhead. His back was to her so she couldn’t see his face, but her heart was already racing.

It’s just some guy. What are you so afraid of? She thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her shoulders back and prepared to walk forward.

“Are you okay?”

She jumped and whipped around to meet the employee from before.

“Will you cut that out!”

He tilted his head, confusion overtaking his features.

“Do you need help?”

“No. I’m okay,” she replied indignantly.

“Are you sure, because this is the second time I’ve caught you staring into space in the last ten minutes.” He leaned in suddenly, lowering his voice to a whisper, “Are you high?”

“What!? No!” she exclaimed, recoiling.

“It’s okay if you are. I’m just going to have to ask you to leave. I’m not going to call the police, I promise.”

“I’m not on drugs,” she huffed, “Can I go check out now?”

He looked at her for a moment, trying to gauge whether or not she was telling the truth before shrugging and letting her be. She watched him walk a couple steps and then turned back to the front, face instantly flushing red at the sight of the boy.

She swallowed her nerves and walked over, placing her basket on the conveyor belt and internally cursing the store for not having a self-checkout.

“Hi, did you find everything okay?” the boy asked, looking up as she approached and smiling widely.

“Um, yeah…” she trailed off, avoiding eye contact at all costs. She looked over at the candy lining the shelves and was wondering how many packs of M&Ms she would actually have to buy to win whatever contest they were advertising when she caught the tail end of something he said.

“-ty?”

“I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?” she asked sheepishly.

“I asked if you were throwing a party,” he replied softly, obviously taking note of her nerves.

(Y/n) shook her head furiously, letting out an awkward laugh. She noticed the way his hands slowed as he scanned items when he looked at her. With a glance up to meet his eyes, she noted how there was a curious glint residing there, face softened as he paused completely to hear what she’d say as if there were never going to be more interesting words. And yet, she couldn’t find it within herself to calm down enough to keep everything coherent.

However, she did manage to spit out, “Just some late night studying,” followed by more awkward laughter.

He nodded in understanding and still she felt like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

As he was ringing up the last of her things, it crossed her mind to look for a name tag, but, to her dismay, she found none. A second of contemplation almost urged her to ask, but he began bagging the items and his hair fell into his face and her heart leaped so high into her throat she was afraid she was going to choke.

She paid while he settled the bags onto the counter, waiting for her to finish. The realization that she was actually going to have to leave hit her and as he handed her the receipt, she felt compelled to talk to him one last time.

“Uh, nice book.” She already hated this.

A look of surprise crossed his features before his eyes lit up and he leaned forward asking excitedly if she had read it.

(Y/n) bit her lip and shifted from foot to foot for a second before blurting out “no,” grabbing ahold of the plastic bags and practically sprinting out of the store, leaving behind a very confused boy and taking all her awkwardness with her.

–

“So, Mark, huh?”

The spike of adrenaline that coursed through her veins literally knocked her off her feet and into the case of kaleidoscope candies, scattering them across the tiled floor with a loud bang. If she thought she had been anxious before, it felt like her soul had just exited her body via heart attack.

She kneeled down, gathering up some of the mess. The blonde employee was already one step ahead, setting the boxes upright again and taking the bags from her arms.

“Who?” she asked. Her eyes shifted around the floor nervously, already having an idea of who he was talking about but she wanted to come off as nonchalant as her wired up body would allow her.

“Mark, cashier, the guy you were stalking the other night.”

She stood up, crossing her arms and glaring at his smug demeanor.

“And what do you call you following me around the store, huh?”

He laughed, placing the last of the candy back on the display before answering, “my job.”

She wanted to argue with his logic, saying he probably had a handful of other tasks he could have, and probably should have, been doing but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the fight. With a roll of her eyes, she kept moving toward the back to the milk case, the reason she was there.

It was another late night, a couple days after the last time she had come to the store and she was back to wandering the aisles like a ghost, sneaking glances at the boy, Mark, and staring into the array of the cakes in the bakery section as she wondered what it would be like to hold an actual conversation that existed outside of this building and was void of her own stutters. The whole store was basically empty aside from herself, Mark and, of course, the annoying employee whose footsteps were not as quiet as he probably thought they were.

A gust of cold air wrapped around her as she pulled the door open, grabbing a jug of milk and tossing a look over her shoulder to the blonde guy trying to hide behind a shelf and failing miserably.

“If you’re going to babysit me, can I at least know your name?”

He stood up straight, seemingly giving up, and walked over to her.

“It’s Lucas. And you?”

“(Y/n).”

“I’m not babysitting you, (Y/n). But I can set you up with Mark if you want.”

Heat crawled up her neck and she looked away from him in favor of cooling her face with the air coming out of the fridge door.

“No.”

She could hear the whine in his voice as he asked why not defensively.

“Because I’ve talked to you all of, what, four times? I don’t know you but I can tell you would probably make a better ninja than a matchmaker.” She paused and gave him a once over. “And you wouldn’t be able to hide anywhere with your height.”

He scoffed, a boisterous laugh following and she turned on her heel, heading the other direction.

“Too loud, too.”

Lucas tagged along to the rest of her shopping trip and as she was crossing the last item off her list, she asked if he would check her out instead of Mark, the only person working at the front. She watched Lucas as he leaned back to peek around a shelf to look at Mark, who was too invested in his book to notice his surroundings.

His eyes met hers again and he fidgeted his hands in the pockets of his jeans. The grimace on his face told her that she probably wasn’t going to like the answer.

“I’m not going to lie, I have no idea how to work a register.”

She stared at him for a moment as his grimace turned into an awkward smile, and then, with a shake of her head, she left Lucas behind with the cans of soup, taking her time to reach Mark.

She wouldn’t admit it but she had dressed a little nicer in case he was working. Opting out of the usual sweatpants for a nicer top, hair neatly combed, though she was messing it up the more nervous she became.

Placing the basket next to Mark, she tried to calm her heart as she cast a glance over her shoulder. Lucas was nowhere in sight.

“More studying?” Mark asked, a hint of a smile playing at his lips.

“Actually I have a break in assignments until next week.” (Y/n) commended herself for keeping her voice steady and for maintaining more eye contact than last time. His eyes were soft but intense, giving her all of their focus and she wondered briefly if his eyes were as reflective of his emotions as hers were.

“Ah, lucky. My creative writing professor has us writing a twenty-five page minimum story. It doesn’t sound that bad until you realize you have no idea what to write about.” He spoke for another minute about the story and she must have been staring too intensely because he suddenly became flustered. His cheeks reddened and his movements were shaky as he bagged the items, eyes cast downward as he muttered, “Sorry, I was rambling.”

“It’s okay,” there was a pause as she paid for the groceries, “Are you a writing major?”

He seemed to ease a little bit at the question since she obviously wasn’t annoyed with his speech.

“Kind of. I haven’t decided if I want to do something with writing, literature or music, so I’m just kind of taking classes for all three right now.”  
“That’s so cool! I’m just working on gen eds right now, which is boring, but at least I’m getting them out of the way.”

Mark nodded, fingers messing with the handles of the bag. He hadn’t handed it to her yet and she hadn’t reached for it, too invested in the way his cheeks squished when he smiled and how nice it was to actually be able to talk with him without feeling the immediate need to run away.

Of course, the moment was ruined by a straggler coming up behind (Y/n), clearing her throat and impatiently tapping her foot.

“Sorry,” he said, handing (Y/n) the bag, bidding her goodbye quickly and addressing the older woman.

She was mildly disappointed in the way he had dropped their conversation so abruptly but figured that him upsetting a customer would get him in major trouble. And honestly that woman could have been standing there for twenty minutes and neither of them probably would have noticed, too lost in their own little world of shy smiles and hope to get beyond small talk to notice.

–

The passing of a couple days quickly came and went with (Y/n) only stopping in briefly and escaping upon the realization that Mark was not working on the particular night she stopped in. Her shoes scuffed the floor, squeaking to a stop when she noticed a woman in the spot Mark usually sat. She turned in the aisle, ready to leave empty-handed when she smacked straight into Lucas.

“For being so loud, you’re always as silent as a brick when you know I’m coming,” she muttered, rubbing her nose where she had hit it on the box he was holding.

“Leaving so soon?” he asked, completely ignoring her statement. She glared at him as he set the box down, taking the contents out and beginning to restock the shelves. “If I didn’t know any better I would think you didn’t come to visit me.” He laughed at her unamused expression.

“Ok, well, I’m leaving.” She had turned on her heel when Lucas stood upright again and called out to her.

“Give me your number and I can tell you when Mark’s working.”

(Y/n) turned back to look at him with a deadpan expression. “Remember when you talked about me stalking Mark the other day? I’m pretty sure this takes that to a whole new level.”

“Alright, then I’ll use it to help you with your game plan because what you have going currently sucks.”

“What, taking it slow and seeing if we click doesn’t work for you?”

He shrugged. “You’re awkward, he’s awkward, you’ll get along perfectly.”

“I think your idea of relationships is skewed.” One look at his much-too-eager face told her he wasn’t going to let up, so she handed him her phone with an exasperated sigh.

As he entered his number, she brushed past him. He was so focused that he didn’t notice when she tossed the empty box until it had landed on his head.

She giggled and even though she couldn’t see his face, his posture told her that he was very done with her.

“Alright, take your phone and get out of my store.”

With the way his voice was muffled she couldn’t take him seriously and she stumbled a little as she went to grab her phone because of her laughter.

She had left the store that night in a good mood with a new mental image of Lucas with a box on his head and his number so she could blackmail him.

Since then he had been pestering her every night Mark was on shift with him. It was pissing her off honestly and she had half a mind to block him. However, knowing him, he would find a way to get to her.

So, she took another night off from studying to storm down to the store and tell Lucas face to face to knock it off. Just a few days after she had given him her number, he had managed to spam her with about three hundred texts a day about random things he knew about Mark, his self-proclaimed best friend. It felt like she was back in middle school, gossiping about all the boys whose voices had dropped over the summer. He did make a great tween-girl best friend, and they had grown a lot closer, but this was honestly too much.

She had a whole speech prepared and was going over it in her head as she entered through the sliding doors, eyebrows pulled together and general expression seething. The last straw had been Lucas threatening to tell Mark when she had refused to come in the day before and now she was about ready to tear his head off.

“Hey!” She was startled by a voice off to her left. Mark was waving to her and in an instant, her demeanor went from angry to bashful.

Suddenly she had no idea what to do with herself. He motioned for her to come over but instead, she stood still, eyes wide and trying to not immediately sprint over to the pharmacy to hide until he lost interest or forgot about her.

Over Mark’s shoulder, she could see Lucas waving his arms wildly as he pointed for her to move to the checkout. His expression was of disbelief and he looked like he was going to have a conniption fit if she didn’t move right then.

It seemed to snap her out of her trance and she tried to walk normally as if she hadn’t just seen Lucas looking like he was going to summon a demon.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Nothing much,” he replied. His leg bounced up and down frantically and he appeared to be messing around with the bags at his side just to give his hands something to do. A different book was at his side, still of the science fiction genre, but he also had a notebook opened to a blank page.

“Are you working on your story?”

He looked down at the journal as if suddenly remembering it was there. Picking up the pencil from where it was abandoned, he began twirling it around with his fingers.

“Yeah, it’s due in a couple weeks so I figured I’d try to start it now.” He paused, “As you can see it’s going really well.”

She laughed and watched as he faltered, pencil slipping from his grasp as he colored slightly. He scrambled to catch it but he ended up missing and she bent down to grasp it. As she handed it back their fingers brushed and heat rose in her cheeks.

Mark set it back down on the journal and then cleared his throat, looking back up at her.

“You know, I never caught your name,” he said.

“It’s (Y/n).”

“(Y/n),” he whispered to himself before speaking up, “I’m Mark.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you.”

He giggled and then silence fell between them. She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet for a moment and then took a step back.

“Ok, well, I’m gonna…” She jerked her thumb toward the aisles. She walked a couple more steps and then turned to go, but he called her name to halt her.

“Hey, uh, this is probably weird to ask, but are you and Lucas dating?” He averted his gaze nervously and she stilled.

“What!” she exclaimed much too loudly, “Me date him? N-no, he’s annoying and I don’t even know him that well.” The whole time she made wild gestures, much like Lucas had done earlier and she laughed awkwardly while trying too hard to dispel any thoughts he had of her dating Lucas. It was just wrong.

“Oh, okay.” Mark looked a little taken aback at her response but less jittery, too. He nodded, more to himself than to her and then smiled a little before returning to his notebook.

She left as quickly as she could, ready to hole herself up in the ice cream section and freeze herself until a less awkward time. Maybe a century or so.

“It’s like you’re making an effort to be more awkward than usual.” Lucas caught up with her and she gave him a look.

“He asked if we were dating and I panicked.”

“Ew,” he spat. She glared at him and he apologized sheepishly. “No offense.”

“Trust me, Lucas, you’re not exactly my type.”

“Oh, I’m well aware.”

(Y/n) started walking back to the produce and he trailed after her like a lost puppy.

“Don’t you have a job to do?”

He shrugged, “I have a couple hours left on my shift.”

She tossed a look up over her shoulder at him, “how do you still have a job?”

With no response given, he picked up the pace to keep in step with her. She could see him watching her as she picked up a basket, throwing various fruits within.

“Have you guys talked about any normal stuff?” he asked.

“As in not us dating? Yeah, we’ve talked about school.”

“That’s lame. Maybe you should try to connect more. He’s such a science fiction nerd.”

“I’ve noticed,” she murmured, tapping her foot on the tile as she thought about whether or not she needed anything else. Deciding that she didn’t, she headed off toward the checkout area and then stopped.

She spun around and stared him down. His tall frame shrunk under her glare and she waited a moment until he made nervous eye contact again.

“Quit sending me texts every ten minutes like a needy boyfriend. I appreciate the help but not the flood of ‘useful information.’” He nodded and she nodded once in response, “You are like a giant puppy,” she said before taking off once more.

As she approached Mark, she saw he had abandoned his journal, burying his nose in his book. He was so invested in it that he didn’t look up when she stopped in front of him or when she placed her basket on the conveyor belt. She had to clear her throat and call his name twice before he jolted, falling out of his seat and onto the floor.

“Are you okay?” she asked, alarmed. She tried to see over the counter but he was hidden from view.

He groaned out that he was alright and then stood up again before asking how long she’d been there.

“Not long.” She tried to ease his embarrassment with a smile. He gazed at her for a moment and then snapped out of it, taking her items out and scanning them.

He slowed down, lost in thought for a moment before he placed the box in his hand to the side. He looked up at her through his eyelashes and she had to refrain from squealing at how cute it looked.

“Hey, um,” Mark started. She looked at him expectantly but he dismissed it with a shake of his head, “Nevermind.”

“What?” she urged, curiosity peaked.

“It’s nothing.” He paused for a moment, scanning the rest of her items and then mumbling, “It was stupid.”

(Y/n) tried to get him to say what he was going to say but he simply gave her a forced smile, handed her the receipt and told her to have a nice evening. Her smile faltered a little but she took her bags without much of a fight. She worried her lip as she walked out, wondering if she had done something wrong. She wanted desperately to write the awkwardness off as sleepiness but his silence settled uneasily with her, had her thinking that maybe she had been too pushy.

So even as she got home and crawled into bed, her brain was buzzing with the idea that the shift in their conversation would lead to a rift in whatever bond had formed. She stared up at her ceiling, wondering if maybe her heart was in the wrong place.

–

For a couple of days, she avoided the grocery store, making excuses and convincing her roommate to go instead. The more she thought back to the conversation, the more she convinced herself that she had been too aggressive and that caused Mark to back off.

She had begun digging trenches in the floor with all her pacing and she found it hard to sleep at night. In the dark, it was worse, alone with her thoughts that ate away at her confidence that she had built up over the few encounters with Mark. Tossing and turning all night left her irritable and unhappy which began a cycle of endless self-criticism.

Mostly she was just afraid to face him after the last few days. She was sure that she if she had to look Mark in the eye anytime soon that she would just revert back into the stuttering mess she once was, too awkward to hold a conversation and way too self-conscious to stay long.

Her solution was to stay away for a while.

Lucas, of course, pestered the shit out of her. At first, it was his normal flood of texts and then slowly it faded into a trickle as the days went on. Her lack of response had apparently deterred him and with time she got nothing at all. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she almost missed talking to him.

With the passing of a week and the fast approaching of finals, she found it easier to keep her thoughts from running back to Mark and their previous conversations. When her mind would wander she reminded herself that she didn’t even know him that well and soon his restrained manner would appear and she was quick to push everything away.

(Y/n) spent a majority of her time trying to cram for the trainwreck of assignments headed her way and was hunched over her desk trying to convince herself not to just drop out of school and off the face of the earth. She rubbed her face in her hands and was about to call it quits when her phone chimed. Her fingers fumbled for her phone and when she pulled it up, she almost set it back down immediately.

It was a random number, one she didn’t have saved as a contact, and since it was still early evening, her first thought was that someone was trying to sell her something. As she went to put her phone back into her pocket, her eyes caught a glimpse of the words below and she almost dropped the device in shock. She read the message over once, twice, three times before it finally registered.

_“Hey, it’s Mark. Lucas gave me your number. I hope that’s okay. Um, this is weird but I wanted to ask if we could meet up sometime. I was going to ask you earlier but you haven’t shown up to the store in a while so… yeah. Let me know.”_

As she tapped on the keyboard to reply, another message came in.

_“Also it’s completely fine if you don’t want to! You are your own person after all. Hahahaha…”_

A smile lifted the corners of her lips and she felt heat rise up her neck as a blush settled onto her cheeks.

_“It’s still Mark, btw.”_

At this, she let out a small giggle. Her heart stuttered and she bit at one of her nails to try and suppress her smile, which was threatening to split her face in half. She almost wanted to be mad at how easily he could make her turn into a blushing mess, but at the same time, she was relieved to know that he still wanted to talk to her.

 _“Yes, I’d really like that.”_ She replied, immediately throwing her phone on the desk as her nerves took over. She was too nervous to stare at the screen as she waited for his response, but the second it vibrated she was grabbing at it with the desperation of a dying woman.

_“Cool. There’s a cafe on campus that’s got pretty good cake, wanna meet there?”_

Her thumbs were flying across the keyboard as she typed out what she wanted to say, typing, deleting and retyping words.

_“Unless you don’t like cake then we can totally go somewhere else.”_

She shook her head at his attempts to please her, loving that he didn’t understand that she was just excited to be talking with him without Lucas interrupting or making fun of her.

_“Mark, chill. The cafe is fine. This weekend? Maybe noon on Saturday?”_

He replied quickly that it worked for him and then sent an even hastier goodbye, but this time it didn’t feel like that other night. It wasn’t forced or curt, it was awkward and dorky and lovable in every way. (Y/n) could feel her spirits lifting and suddenly she didn’t feel as tied down by all the stress and deadlines crushing her shoulders.

She got up, jumping and dancing around, laughing until she was breathless. When she grew dizzy, she steadied herself, reminded that it wasn’t a date, not really. Just a get-together. They hadn’t talked for a while after all.

And just as quickly as the endorphins had coated her veins, her blood turned to ice. Her laughter stopped, replaced by nerves and butterflies in the pit of her stomach.

It was going to be just her and Mark.

How could she have missed that? She chided herself. She could already envision the awkward pauses and feel the tension between them as they sat uneasily across from each other, drinks in hand to occupy themselves. Maybe he would realize that he hadn’t really wanted to talk to her. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding and he would get up almost as soon as he sat down, leaving her behind.

“Will you stop already?”

She paused in her pacing, turning to look at Lucas who had come over an hour earlier, just after Mark had texted and she had just about had a mental breakdown.

“I already told you that you’re both awkward and basically married at this point,” he paused to look out the window, not bothered by her overthinking. “He just wants to have lunch with you. It’s not like he’s asking you to commit to anything major.”

Her eyes narrowed into a glare. Honestly, it amazed her how dumb he was sometimes. It was possible that she had simply forgotten how much being around him made her want to smack him.

“You really don’t understand relationships very much, do you?”

“And you don’t understand the difference between a date and a meetup,” he turned back to look at her, giving her his full attention again. “I can show you if you want,” he added, throwing in a wink.

She scoffed, sitting down on the floor and slumping until she was pretty sprawled out on the ground starfish-style.

“I asked you to come over to help. This isn’t helping. Now I’m regretting even letting you in.”

He clutched at his chest, feigning pain, and cried out, falling back on her bed. He sat back up like he was weighed down and gave her puppy eyes as he pouted.

“You’re so overdramatic.”

“But you love me.”

She parted her lips to respond but he beat her to it.

“Not as much as you loooove Mark, though.”

He cackled as she reached out, chucking the closest thing she could find, the thing being a stuffed animal that had fallen onto her floor, at his head. He caught it but only in the rebound off his face.

It took a couple minutes for him to calm down and by that time she was completely done with Lucas. She closed her eyes and tried to relax her mind from all her worries. Suddenly Lucas stood, causing the floor to shake with the intensity he had jumped off the bed with.

“I’m gonna be late for my shift. Gotta go, (Y/n). You’ll be fine. Don’t die. Tell me how it goes.” He yelled the last part as he was stumbling over her and out the door. She didn’t even bother watching him go, choosing to stare up at the ceiling in silent contemplation of their friendship.

After a second, she sat up, figuring there was no point in moping around on the floor. She looked over at where she had abandoned her phone on her desk and got up to grab it. There weren’t any new messages but that didn’t deter her. Instead, she sat down on the edge of her bed and reread the texts between her and Mark, a smile already beginning to make her cheeks ache.

There was still a lot to figure out before they met up, but at least they were going to meet up. Their interactions would go beyond the store, as she had hoped, and maybe they would be able to overcome all the awkwardness that was pushing them apart.

–

It was 12:06 and she had seen no sign of Mark. Granted, she had only been there for a few minutes, taking a seat toward the back where there was more privacy. She hadn’t ordered anything yet, deciding to wait until she could actually breathe properly. Anticipation had her stomach in knots and she cuddled with her phone, debating texting him, just to make sure he was still coming. She ultimately decided against it, looking out the window to distract herself.

Another ten minutes passed and she was trying to keep her spirits from sinking. She really wanted to believe that Mark hadn’t stood her up, but with each tick of the clock, it was becoming harder to convince herself otherwise.

With a sigh she looked back to the door, willing him to walk through. She turned her attention to the rest of the cafe. It was bustling with the rush of the lunch hour. There were people everywhere trying to find a place to sit or waiting to order. There were booths lining the walls and tables in the middle, and, despite the noise now, she could picture this being the perfect place to study on a lazy afternoon after a class.

A clatter behind her caused to turn her head to look over her shoulder.

There was another booth hidden in the back behind a pair of bookshelves. She hadn’t noticed the area at all, and she especially didn’t notice the familiar head of black hair as it hung over the eyes of the boy who had bent down trying to pick up all his pens off the floor.

A breath of relief nearly made her cry and she quickly gathered her bag, moving to approach his spot. However, her foot caught when she turned too fast and she collapsed to the floor. She just laid there for a moment, glancing up to where Mark was staring wide-eyed at her before bursting into a fit of laughter, embarrassment deepening her cheeks from a pink glow to a scarlet wildfire. Her hair was tousled, hands aching slightly from where she had caught herself and she barely registered the fingers brushing her arm, a silent offer.

Mark helped her up, grabbing her belongings and leading her by the elbow back to his little alcove. He made her sit and watched her giggle for a moment, no doubt questioning if she had hit her head.

“Are you okay?” he murmured.

She nodded, hands covering her face as she tried to calm herself down, to no avail. She could see the toes of his shoes between the spaces of her fingers and she focused on them so she could breathe properly again. Slowly she removed her hands from their place, putting them in her lap and curling her fingers into the fabric of her pants as the reality of what had just happened began to sink in.

He moved to sit across from her and, eventually, she lifted her gaze to meet his.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” he spoke, voice barely above a whisper.

“I thought the same thing.” They both looked at each other for a moment before chuckling shyly.

“Wow, we’re kind of dumb, aren’t we? I mean you were right there and I-” he paused, licking his lips and turning away for a moment, “You look very beautiful, by the way.”

She smiled, flustered. She averted her eyes down to the table after mumbling out a thanks and an awkwardness settled over them. He shifted and she wondered if he was going to leave her, just as she had originally thought.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Mark asked. Her breath caught in her throat when she glanced at him, but she swallowed her nerves and told him her order. When he left, she reached for her bag and grabbed her phone.

 _“I’m so awkward. What do I do!?”_ She sent Lucas.

He responded after a second, _“Relax, maybe. How ‘bout starting with asking why he wanted to meet up.”_

(Y/n) wanted to send him a snarky reply, but Mark popped back up, balancing mugs and plates a little shakily. She tossed her phone to the side in favor of helping him out. He thanked her, sending her a grateful smile before sitting down across from her.

There was a small pause as she pondered whether or not to actually ask and then she let her thoughts escape before she could even comprehend it.

“So… why are we here?”

“Because they have good cake,” he replied, a little confused.

She shook her head slightly, suppressing a laugh, “No, I mean why did you want to meet up?”

“Oh,” he said, a little embarrassed. Mark put his fork down and hurriedly wiped his mouth with a napkin. His eyes looked everywhere but at her and he fiddled with seemingly everything within reach as he thought. “I wanted to ask you something the next time you came into the store, but, uh… you haven’t been there.”

Silence laid thick between them as they sat, still watching each other, waiting for the other to make a move. (Y/n) didn’t want to get her hopes up but an idea of the question was growing and she felt like if he didn’t say something soon, she would burst with curiosity.

He fidgeted, a twitch almost, that made her want to explode, throttle him, beg him to let everything come across as easily as it once had. But the emotion fell away and eventually he asked, “Can I write about you?”

Her mind appeared to have shut down.

It was not the question she had been expecting and it wasn’t in her lineup of guesses that would have followed. She didn’t really have an answer since she couldn’t process the question, and the quiet crept back in.

Mark must have taken her lack of response as a no because his expression fell and in turn, her heart dropped, “It’s okay. I can think of something else. It’s just… you know, I thought I’d ask.” His voice grew quiet and he picked at the remaining half of his cake with a sullen pout on his lips.

“What do you mean ‘write about me?’” She inquired when she finally regathered her thoughts.

“Just you. I don’t know, like, how we met and our conversations.”

“For your story?”

He nodded his head slowly, shifting to rest his chin on the palm of his hand, eyes focused on the grainy design of the wooden table.

“I tried to write different topics, but I can’t stop thinking about you.”

It was her turn to be flustered and she could feel herself growing hot as Mark tried to backtrack.

“I mean- I didn’t mean- I mean, I kind of meant-” He sighed, pulling his hands into his lap and looking up to the ceiling.

(Y/n) tried to calm herself down and a fit of nervous giggles overtook her until she was hunched over the table, struggling to breathe. Tears sprung into her eyes and she covered her mouth with her hands to stifle the noise. Her cake sat abandoned on the table as she rubbed at her eyes, only pausing when hiccups caused her to jerk.

“You’re really adorable. Did you know that, Mark?” She glanced up at him to find he was frozen, an unreadable expression in his face.

“So, I can write it?” he asked after a moment.

“Only if I get to read it when you’re finished.”

His lips split apart in a broad smile and he began laughing as well, “Of course.”

Tension slipped from their little alcove and they eased into their discussion, appetites returning and motions less robotic. They only left after their mugs had been refilled several times and they had shared a piece of several of the cake options.

She left the cafe with a light heart and a hazy smile. She felt like she was in some kind of trance and she probably would have stayed all night if Mark hadn’t had to leave to work on the story. Giddiness was coursing through her veins and her hands were shaking with excitement. He couldn’t stop thinking about her! In the back of her mind, she felt like this was some cheesy teen romance movie, but she honestly didn’t care. Not when she was on top of the world.

–

“You two are like the lamest couple on this planet.”

“We’re not a couple.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“Why do you insist on following me around every time I shop here?”

Lucas shrugged nonchalantly, gazing up at the various cereals as if he’d never seen half of them before when he, in reality, he had stocked them. Probably.

“Didn’t he ask to write about you? I’m pretty sure that’s Mark’s way of expressing his undying love for you.”

Mark hadn’t been working the graveyard shift the last week and a half due to finals, but (Y/n) had still shown up out of habit. She was back for another box of cereal to keep her going through a long night of studying for her last final in the morning. After that she would have to start packing up her dorm and, well, cereal was just a necessity at the moment.

She hadn’t talked to Mark as much as she would have liked to since their get together but now she was more excited than nervous to text him. Her butterflies still flitted in her stomach at the thought and her grip tightened on the box as a lazy smile grew on her face.

A hand waved frantically in her line of sight and she jumped when she heard Lucas call out, “Earth to (Y/n)!”

He gave her a smug look and she scoffed, brushing past him, “Go do your job!”

“I will when you go on a date with Mark,” he said, laughing loudly as he turned on his heel and walked away.

She uncrossed her arms and let the box fall to her side as she made her way up to the front. A crash sounded behind her and she startled enough to bump into the corner of the aisle and drop her phone. She decided she probably didn’t even want to know what Lucas had done, so she plucked her phone up off the ground and continued onward, shuffling through her bag to make room for the device.

Her mind was focused elsewhere as she thought about how far she had come since first meeting Mark. Of course, Lucas had been a help, but she would never admit that. She no longer felt like she had to run away at the very thought of him and now she welcomed his image with open arms, always awaiting their next conversation.

And yet she still jolted when she came face to face with the boy she was imagining, not expecting to end up melting under his gaze within five seconds.

“Hi,” he said, voice soft, matching his smile.

“Hey,” she paused, “I didn’t see you when I came in.”

“I just got here. I was a little late because I fell asleep.”

Her eyebrows furrowed and she gave him a worried look, “Don’t overwork yourself.”

He chuckled, “I won’t. Plus, I had my last final this afternoon so I’m officially done and able to relax.”

She mirrored his smile and felt her cheeks warming slightly. Her gaze fell to the floor as she thought of what to say next but was interrupted by Mark’s hand coming into view. He motioned for her to hand over the box and in her embarrassed state, she almost chucked it at him.

The only sound between them was the beeping of the machine as he rang the cereal up. He waited until she finished paying before he bagged the item. His hands paused on the handles, looking over at her for a moment.

“I got an A on my story.”

“Oh my gosh, Mark, that’s awesome!”

He grinned a little and shook his head gently, “It’s not really that big of a deal. I just amped up the romance a bit and my professor loved it. She’s a sucker for love stories.”

“So… you’re saying that there’s romance between us?” she asked quietly.

Mark blanched before his face became pink as he stuttered and stammered, trying to get any words out of his mouth. She was equally flustered at his reaction and couldn’t help but smile shyly to herself.

“Just kiss already!” Lucas shouted from three aisles over, head poking out with a lopsided grin, obviously proud of himself, as (Y/n) glared at him and Mark stared at him bewildered.

“Shut up! We’re not even dating, you dingbat!” she yelled at him and he retreated with boisterous laughter ringing behind him.

“Yeah, um, about that,” Mark started nervously, one hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck, “I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime, like, on an actual date where I’ll pick you up so we’re not both waiting on each other.” He trailed off in the end, biting his lip and casting his gaze downward, feet shifting uncomfortably.

“I’d love that,” she replied, a smile stretching her cheeks so much they were beginning to hurt.

“O-ok. Cool. I can, uh, text you the details later.”

She nodded and then took a step back, ready to leave so she wouldn’t taint this moment with any more awkwardness. She walked a few more steps, ready to straight up skip out of the store but was held back with a call from Mark.

“(Y/n).” She looked back over her shoulder in time to watch him hold the bag up, giving it a shake for emphasis.

With a sheepish grin, she trotted back to the checkout counter and took the handles from him, feeling warm from the way their fingers brushed. Their gazes lingered on each other for a moment before (Y/n) became too shy from the eye contact and left, calling out a goodbye as she went.

As soon as she was out in the parking lot, out of sight of the sliding glass doors, she threw her arms up and squealed, which faded into laughter as she jumped around in excitement. She didn’t calm down until she got all the way back to her room, tossing the cereal on her desk and flopping onto her bed with a content sigh and a happy glow about her.

Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out hastily, only half expecting to see a text from Mark so soon. So, she wasn’t really all that surprised to see it was from Lucas, nevertheless, the short text had her laughing, too content in that moment to snap back.

_“Finally.”_


End file.
